Hot Off the ServerPress: December, 2018 Newsletter

Hot Off the ServerPress: December, 2018 Newsletter

As We Wrap Up 2018. . .

And here we are again. Another year is about done. Another year where we ask ourselves, “where did it go?” It’s amazing that each year seems to go by so much faster than the year before.

For ServerPress, it’s definitely been a year of ups and downs with the last half being more ups, and we’re thankful to all of you for allowing us to be a part of your WordPress Development Workflow.

This year has seen multiple DesktopServer core updates along with some really cool new Design-Time Plugins. We’ve also been busy with WPSiteSync giving it additional powerful functionality to make it your “go-to” content synchronization tool.

2019 has some big things in store with some significant enhancements to DesktopServer such as a more robust deployment engine and new Design-time Plugins.

WPSiteSync will see a focus on new extensions for page builders and major eCommerce plugins. We’re really excited to be bringing this added functionality to you.

We’ve also been hard at work creating new educational content including the latest WordPress v5.x guides, practical how-to’s, and yes, we even plan to bring back our Office Hours Podcast where we give tips and tricks on how to streamline your workflow and take on your questions.

At ServerPress, we pride ourselves in the fact that workflow is our specialty and we’re always looking for new ways to help you work as efficiently as possible. Efficient workflow is our passion and it’s ALL we do, so you chose wisely when you decided to use ServerPress as your workflow partners.

From all of us here, we hope you have a safe and happy Holiday Season and we are excited to be working with you for years to come.

In the event you’ve been busy, you might have missed the announcement that WordPress v5 was released. This major update includes the long-awaited Gutenberg visual block editor which is designed to enhance your editing experience. Since this is a significant upgrade, many web hosts have opted to delay auto-updating of WordPress v5.x until after the first of the year.

Since DesktopServer is an ideal tool for testing the new platform, we’ve written a short guide on ways you can try out the latest version in just a few short minutes by utilizing various blueprints. You can check out this guide here.

What are YOUR plans for Gutenberg? How do you plan to test it? We’d love to hear all about it and welcome any new suggestions you have for ensuring that your sites are not negatively impacted by the updates.

And the Winner Is . . .

Over the past several months, we have offered our customers the opportunity to win a free year of our Premium DesktopServer Membership for filling out a few questions. We REALLY appreciate your answers to this survey as it really does help us determine the course of the company. More importantly, it helps us determine how we can serve you in the best possible way. Since ServerPress has been running in turbo mode this year, we have not been on top of choosing our winners, so to catch you all up, here are the winners for August, September, October, and November!

August Winner: Steve PritchardSeptember Winner: Sonja London (long-time customer. THANK YOU! A year has been added to your membership)October Winner: Asked not to be mentioned but he still thinks we’re the best!November Winner: Traci Styner

PS. If you’d like to fill out the survey and you have not already, you can still win a year by filling out the survey! If you’re already a Premium Subscriber, we’ll add a year to your current membership!

It’s Better to be Wise Than Smart

“If it comes to choosing between being wise and being smart, I’d rather be wise.” – me

“It’s a good thing, Daddy, because you’re not very smart.” – Brenna Benzakein (Age 4)

I was driving her to Taekwondo Class a few years ago when the above conversation happened. I literally had to pull over to the side of the road because I was laughing so hard. She, obviously, was smart.

I’ve been working in the WordPress Community for a number of years now. I’ve been involved in the Tech industry long enough that at one point, I was considered the young one. While the WordPress Community is peppered with some pentagenarians and older, it is still a young scene; a scene with many of them far smarter than I. I admit, though, that sometimes, I question their wisdom.

ServerPress Office Hours Will Return

Starting in June, we decided to experiment with the idea of a live “Office Hours” style podcast in which we would cover some tips and tricks to improve your workflow with DesktopServer as well as answer questions live to our viewers. To be honest, we were not sure what to expect. We were not even sure people would tune in. As it turns out, Office Hours exceeded expectations and lots of people tuned in, asked some wonderful questions, and watched later on our YouTube Channel (which you really *should* subscribe to).

We decided to take a bit of time off through The Holidays, but we do plan to return after the beginning of the year. We’ll cover new features, things to come, and hope to answer more of the questions asked either during our Podcast or questions that come in through our Contact Form between the shows. The goal is to help you improve your quality of life by developing the most efficient workflow.

We Need Your Help!

We have to admit, sometimes coming up with content that our customers feel is relevant to them can be difficult. We would LOVE it if you would let us know what matters to you, and would like suggestions on topics for future episodes or questions about our products. If you’ve watched our past episodes and have ideas for things you would like to see, let us know! Hearing from our customers is one of our favorite things!

If you have not seen past episodes, you can find them here. Let us know what you think!

Speaking of Podcasts

Besides our own podcast, we have been known to pop in on other WordPress related podcasts. We were thrilled to be asked to sponsor the WP Water Cooler and WPBlab podcasts. WP Water Cooler is one of the longest running podcasts in the WordPress Community and it’s one in which all the members of the ServerPress Team have appeared on multiple occasions. If you haven’t checked it out, it’s a fun, insightful 30 minutes a week. You can check it out live on Fridays at 11:00 AM Pacific.

WPBlab is a show which pertains to marketing, hosted by Jason Tucker and Bridget Willard. In it, the two converse with a special guest in order to gain insight into the world of business and marketing. Our own Marc Benzakein has been on it twice. In Episode 103, he talks about taking a company from virtually unknown to becoming practically a household name within the WordPress Community.

In Episode 118, he talks about straddling the line between running a successful Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale and overdoing its marketing. It’s a highly entertaining episode and there may even be a few jabs thrown in along with some flying sparks.

We are proud to have been a part of the WP Water Cooler and we’re even more proud to sponsor the shows. We hope you enjoy them and would love to hear what you think!

And that wraps up this newsletter along with 2018! Thanks for taking the time to read all the happenings at ServerPress and we are super excited to bring on 2019 and show you what’s in store! See you soon!

Marc’s driven spirit moves ServerPress, LLC forward with elevated momentum. With his business expertise, he rolls up his sleeves helping the Team in every possible way to ensure a smooth Workflow. Besides work, Marc is a big Advocate for Foster Care. Yes. 8 kids and counting…